GM Teams Up with EV Industry for a Better Grid

SAN DIEGO -- July 31, 2014: General Motors is bringing its OnStar-enabled Smart
Grid solutions, to one of the largest electric vehicle collaborations to
take place within the industry. Eight global automakers, including GM, and
15 electric utilities are working with the Electric Power Research
Institute to develop and implement a standardized Smart Grid integration
platform.

“One thing that’s missing from most Smart Grid programs is a
sense of collaboration,” said Tim Nixon, chief technology officer,
Global Connected Consumer, GM. “Companies will showcase a meaningful
solution, but without widespread acceptance in the industry, its usability
is limited. That’s what makes this partnership unique.”

GM currently offers extended range electric vehicles – the
Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac ELR – as well as the all-electric
Chevrolet Spark EV. The plug-in electric vehicle market in the U.S. has
grown to more than 225,000 vehicles – including more than 63,000
Chevrolet Volts, the best-selling plug-in vehicle in the U.S. since launch
in 2010.

“As electric vehicles become more prevalent in the marketplace, it
will present some unique challenges and opportunities for utilities who
manage the flow of the electric grid,” said Dan Bowermaster, EPRI
manager of Electric Transportation. “The focus of this collaboration
is to create a standard program that will allow utilities to work with
different types of plug-in vehicles to more efficiently manage their demand
on the grid.”

For the first phase of the program, EPRI and the participating companies
will work to develop a standardized Demand Response solution. Demand
Response is the signal a utility sends to an energy management company
communicating the supply and demand needs to the electric grid. That
company then communicates with designated plug-in vehicles in the area to
manage their energy consumption in accordance with the grid’s
needs.

“If such a service were ever to be implemented for consumers that
opt-in to it, they could receive a financial benefit or other incentive for
allowing their vehicle charging to be managed,” said Nixon.
“This would also allow utilities to help reduce stress on the grid
and costs to all utility customers.”

The goal of this program is to develop a cloud-based, central server
that would receive grid requests from a utility – like Demand
Response – and then translate and standardize that request so it
could be relayed to all appropriate plug-in vehicles in the designated
area. Automakers would be expected to develop and deploy technologies
compatible with these smart grid communications.

GM has been working with companies like TimberRock Energy Solutions,
Inc. to research, test and develop potential real-world solutions like
Demand Response.